Henry the Young King, 1155-1183

by Matthew Strickland

  The winds that kept the allied fleet in Gravelines also prevented Henry from sailing from Normandy with his army. But a sudden change in the wind, which Roger of Howden saw as a sure sign of divine favour, allowed Henry to cross with a small retinue from Barfleur on 7 July, while his Brabançons embarked at Ouistreham.108 With him he brought his youngest children, Joanna and John, his captive queen Eleanor, and the Young King’s wife Margaret, who was also in effect his captive. Also with the king were some of his most important prisoners, including the earl and countess of Leicester, and Hugh of Chester, who were quickly sent to the castle of Devizes for safekeeping.109 Why the Young King and the count of Flanders did not avail themselves of the same winds to set sail is unknown, but their delay bought Henry II a precious respite. Landing at Southampton, he made directly for Canterbury, where on 12 July he undertook a dramatic act of penance.110 Dismounting at Harbledown where the distant cathedral came into view, he walked barefoot to Becket’s tomb as a penitent, dressed only in a woollen shirt, having forbidden the monks from their usual practice of meeting him with a procession worthy of his majesty.111 After publicly confessing that he had been unwittingly responsible for Thomas’ death, he submitted himself to a beating by the monks and the bishops present in the chapter house.112 Then, eschewing all food and drink, he spent the entire night in prayer and vigil at Thomas’ shrine. How far Henry felt real contrition is impossible to judge, but it was a powerful act of political theatre, and an attempt to neutralize the widespread outrage felt towards Henry for Becket’s murder which the Young King and his partisans had attempted to harness, and to invoke the aid of the new saint for the Old King’s cause. As Guernes noted, ‘in very pressing need, he went to the baron for help’.113

  There was, however, also a sound strategic motive for Henry’s presence at Canterbury. He had beaten his son and Count Philip in the race to reach England, but the most likely target for their landing was Kent. This was a county in which support for King Stephen had been particularly strong, and, as Henry II knew, it had been promised, together with the castles of Dover and Rochester, to Count Philip by the Young King in 1173. The Medway had long been a favoured point of attack by invading forces, and though Rochester was secure, the castles of Saltwood and Allington were probably in rebel hands.114 William of Canterbury reports that on the morning on which he completed his vigil at Becket’s tomb, 13 July, King Henry ordered the people of Kent to remove their belongings beyond the Medway for fear of the invading forces. Meanwhile, the shire levies of Kent had been called out to guard the coast.115 Having made his peace with Thomas and seen to the defences of the Kentish coast, Henry hastened to secure London. As he entered the city on 14 July he was greeted by the citizens, clad in their best apparel, in a great ceremony of welcome, the rapturous reception perhaps reflecting their attempts to allay any suspicions the king had concerning their loyalty.116

  The reaction of young Henry and Count Philip to Henry’s arrival in England on 8 July is not recorded: the narratives of the chroniclers and of St Thomas’ hagiographers are alike dominated by the extraordinary events at Canterbury and its aftermath. It seems, however, that the allies still intended to launch their attack, for well after it was known that the Old King had crossed from Normandy, a substantial force of 40 knights and 500 Flemish under the leadership of Hugh of Bar-sur-Seine, the nephew of Bishop Hugh de Puiset, sailed from Flanders and landed at Hartlepool on 13 July, in order to strengthen the garrisons of Bishop Hugh’s castles.117 As with the Flemish forces sent in May to aid Hugh Bigod, such a move can only have been intended to reinforce the northern rebels, to coincide with the Young King’s landing in the south. What prompted the Young King to abandon his ‘enterprise of England’, however, was not his father’s presence in the kingdom but news of a devastating and completely unexpected event – the capture of King William the Lion by Henry II’s forces.

  Aided by the Martyr: The Capture of William the Lion and the Collapse of the Rebellion in England

  By early July, the king of Scots had shifted the focus of his attack from Cumbria to Northumberland. Targeting the lands of Odinel de Umfraville, he took his castle of Harbottle, then laid siege to Prudhoe on the Tyne.118 The garrison put up a fierce resistance, and Odinel himself broke out of the blockade to seek aid from the strong royalist forces that were concentrating in north Yorkshire. On learning that the ‘army of Yorkshire’ led by Ranulf de Glanville, Bernard de Balliol, Robert de Stuteville, William de Vesci and Odinel were marching against him, William raised the siege of Prudhoe and withdrew north to the village of Felton, whence he dispatched his army to devastate the surrounding region.119 The Scots divided their raiding forces into three groups, one of which, led by Duncan, earl of Fife, attacked and burned the town of Warkworth. Its inhabitants were said to have been massacred, including those seeking refuge in the church of St Laurence along with its priests.120 Meanwhile, King William had encamped before de Vesci’s castle of Alnwick with a force of around 100 knights, in order to prevent the garrison from attacking the raiding parties.121 It is unclear why William did not retreat more swiftly, as he had done in 1173, but instead chose to divide and disperse his forces in widespread harrying. He may have wished to punish the nobles of Northumberland for their refusal to support him and perhaps he was over-confident: English chroniclers noted that while his army was engaged in brutal ravaging, he himself was ‘engaging in sport with his knights as if safe and fearing nothing’ and ‘appeared to be on holiday’.122 But with the proximity of a powerful English field army, it was to prove a very costly mistake.

  The royalist army, comprised only of cavalry for speed of movement and numbering some 400 knights, had ridden hard in pursuit, and on arrival at Newcastle on 12 July received good intelligence of William’s situation.123 Discovering that the king was guarded by only a small force of his household knights, they determined on a bold strike. Setting out before dawn the following morning at top speed, they covered twenty-four miles ‘before the fifth hour of daylight’, with a thick coastal fog making the route difficult but also helping to screen their approach.124 They halted to re-form in the cover of some trees within sight of Alnwick castle, from where they could assess the Scottish positions. William was at breakfast, and took the advancing horsemen to be part of his army returning from foraging. Only as they grew closer did he realize from their banners that they were Henry II’s men.125 The king of Scots, who had a reputation as a fine knight, flew to arms and led his household knights into combat, but despite their fierce resistance, they were soon overwhelmed. The English knights took care to spare their Scottish counterparts as prisoners for ransom, for many were well known to them, but they ruthlessly cut down the Flemish infantry. Most of William’s retinue were taken captive, and the king himself was captured when his horse was run through and he became trapped beneath it.126 Glanville’s force then immediately withdrew at great speed with their prize to Newcastle before the remainder of the Scots army realized what had befallen their king.127

  It had been a brilliant military operation, exploiting good intelligence by audacity, speed and surprise. Its impact was equally dramatic. Deprived of the unifying force of the king, William’s hybrid army rapidly disintegrated, with rival elements even turning on each other as they withdrew north. Uctred and Gilbert, the lords of Galloway, immediately seized the opportunity to return to their province and launched a widespread attack on the castles of the French and English colonists settled there by the king of Scots.128 The Scots’ contribution to the Young King’s war was over at a stroke. Roger de Mowbray had narrowly escaped capture at Alnwick, but it was now clear that the revolt in the north was also doomed. As soon as he heard news of the defeat, Bishop Hugh of Durham immediately dismissed the Flemish mercenaries who had disembarked on the very day of King William’s capture, and ships returning directly to Flanders must soon have apprised young Henry and Count Philip of the catastrophe.129 The rebel garrisons of the Midlands were now not only cut off from external aid but depri
ved of their most effective leader as Earl David, on hearing of his brother’s fate, immediately left Leicester and headed back to Scotland with his men.130

  Henry II himself learned the astonishing news on 18 July, when a messenger from Ranulf de Glanville arrived post-haste from the north.131 Church bells were rung in celebration and thanksgiving throughout the country.132 To contemporaries, the fact that King William had been captured on the very morning that King Henry had completed his vigil at Becket’s tomb at Canterbury could not be a coincidence: it was a miraculous sign that St Thomas had accepted the repentance of his old friend, and come to his aid in a time of dire need.133 William himself certainly saw the hand of St Thomas at work, for in 1178 he would dedicate his new abbey of Arbroath to the martyr.134 For young Henry, it was a bitter blow. He had espoused the cause of St Thomas to rally support against his father, yet now it seemed that the saint had dramatically manifested his displeasure at the Young King’s enterprise and shown forgiveness to Henry II. If he landed in England now, would anyone rise in his name? Would he in turn feel the wrath of the martyr? At Gravelines, there must have been a heated counsel of war as to whether to proceed with the invasion.

  Henry II, however, was taking no chances despite this upsurge in his fortunes, and moved rapidly to crush the remaining rebel areas in eastern England before his son could invade. The same day that news reached him of William the Lion’s capture, the king marched from London at the head of a large army, and laid siege to Huntingdon.135 Three days later, the garrison bowed to the inevitable and surrendered, placing themselves at the king’s mercy but with a guarantee that they would be spared in life and limb.136 Hugh Bigod still commanded a large force of Flemings based at Framlingham, but Bungay had already been besieged, and the royalist forces had succeeded in digging a mine under the south-west corner of the keep.137 When Henry II moved into Suffolk, pitched his tents at the vill of Seleham near Framlingham and prepared to lay siege, Bigod swiftly capitulated.138 On 25 July he came to the king, made his peace and yielded up his castles. Henry II was in no mood for bargaining, but Earl Hugh ‘with great difficulty’ obtained the king’s permission for his Flemish allies to leave the kingdom under safe conduct.139 By the time Bigod finally surrendered, the Young King and Count Philip had abandoned their invasion plans. Deprived of Earl Hugh’s bases in East Anglia, any landing of forces on the Suffolk coast would be fraught with danger, while even if they attempted a landing in Kent, the capture of King William meant that the allied forces would alone have to confront a powerful royal army led by Henry II in person.140 Whatever the reasons why young Henry and the count of Flanders had not launched their fleet around 11–12 July, delay had been fatal to their chances of success. The Young King had lost the initiative, and with it the last chance to gain sole rule of his kingdom by force of arms. Yet he and Count Philip still had a powerful army at their command. Even if England had eluded his grasp, an assault on Rouen might yet break his father’s hold on the duchy and destabilize his position in his continental lands. The campaigns of 1173 had weakened the eastern defences of Normandy, making a direct attack on the city possible.141 If the allies moved fast, they might with luck take Rouen while Henry II was still occupied in suppressing the uprising in England. Accordingly, young Henry and Count Philip turned their army of invasion against Normandy and, joining forces with King Louis, they laid siege to Rouen on 22 July 1174.142

  The departure of the allied army from Gravelines, however, rang the death knell for the rebellion in England. On 31 July at Northampton, the centre of royal power in the Midlands, the leading rebels came to submit to Henry II in a carefully choreographed ritual of surrender. Bishop Hugh of Durham yielded up the castles of Durham, Norham and Nothallerton, and also gained the king’s reluctant permission to allow the French forces commanded by his nephew, Hugh de Bar, to leave for France.143 Roger de Mowbray yielded his remaining fortress of Thirsk, while the earl of Ferrers surrendered Tutbury and Duffield. The diehard garrisons of Leicester, Mountsorrel and Groby also finally surrendered, but only after Henry II had threatened that their captured lord, the earl of Leicester, would not taste food or drink until they did so.144 For William the Lion, there was to be studied humiliation: he was paraded before the assembled royal host and the gathering of his erstwhile allies, with his feet bound beneath his horse.145 Within less than a month and to the wonder of contemporaries, Henry II’s position in England had been transformed from acute crisis to firm control.146 Now all depended on whether the Young King and his allies could finally wrest the duchy’s capital from him.

  The Siege of Rouen

  Rouen was a great prize. In wealth and population it far outstripped Paris, and within the Angevin empire it was surpassed in political and fiscal importance only by London.147 Henry II had been careful to retain the loyalty of the Rouennais, granting the citizens extensive judicial and trading privileges, including a virtual monopoly on trade from Normandy to Ireland, especially that in wine.148 The financiers of Rouen had helped to bankroll Henry II’s campaigns in the 1150s, which secured the kingdom of England for him, although their interests may have suffered from Henry’s increasing reliance on both Flemish and Jewish moneylenders.149 Rouen itself was home to a large and flourishing Jewish community, and it seems likely that during the troubles of 1173–74 the Old King drew on their financial support, whether proffered or compelled. Certainly in its aftermath he reaffirmed their privileges, including freeing them from taxes on either side of the Channel. Henry II’s control of Jewish finance within the empire deprived the Young King of this major source of credit, though he evidently borrowed heavily elsewhere.150

  Map 5 Normandy, to illustrate the campaigns of 1174

  The combined allied army which now pitched its tents before the walls of Rouen was a mighty one, containing not only the counts of Flanders, Burgundy, Champagne, Blois and many other of Louis’ leading nobles, but a great number of infantry, many of which had been levied from royal towns.151 Yet the city’s defences were equally formidable. In the south-east corner close to the river was the great donjon, built in the later tenth century and enclosed by an enceinte with mural towers added by Henry I.152 Although in January 1144 Henry’s father Geoffrey le Bel had accepted the bloodless surrender of the city, the keep itself continued to hold out until late April, defying Geoffrey’s siege engines, and capitulated at last only when its defenders faced starvation.153 The fortifications, dating in part back to the walls of the Roman civitas, had been strengthened by Henry II in the 1160s.154 Moreover, the city, which had its own marshal, had been reinforced by a powerful garrison drawn from the knights and nobles of the duchy.155

  The key to the city’s defence, however, was its situation. ‘It lies on the Seine, broadest of rivers,’ noted Newburgh, ‘by which merchandise from many regions is transported into the city. It is so effectively protected by this river and also by overhanging hills that scarcely a third of it can be put under siege by an army.’156 A fine stone bridge, which had been built by the Empress Matilda, crossed from regions to south and east of the Seine.157 In times of peace this had greatly facilitated the city’s trade and commerce, but in time of war it formed a vital lifeline, allowing Rouen to be resupplied from the left bank of the Seine. Downstream, there was no other bridge, while upstream the powerful fortress of Pont de l’Arche guarded the nearest crossing point, at the confluence of the Seine and the Epte. The topography of Rouen was well known to King Louis, for as a younger man he had brought his forces to assist Count Geoffrey in his siege of 1144.158 Yet despite the fact that the allies’ combined army ‘was greater than any seen in Europe for many years previously’, they could only bring their forces to bear against part of the city. Crucially, they were unable to command the south bank of the river and hence could not interdict access to the city via the bridge.159 Even if they had been able to reach the southern end of the bridge, to divide their army was to invite being attacked and defeated in detail.

  This inability to prevent the cit
y from being resupplied made blockade impossible, leaving no option but to try and take it by direct assault. Siege artillery began to bombard the walls while the attackers, who had divided their forces into three units, sought to maximize their advantage in numbers by establishing three eight-hour shifts, with each section attacking in turn, then being replaced by fresh troops while the others rested.160 ‘In this way,’ noted Newburgh, ‘they attacked continuously, so as not to allow the defenders of the walls any respite for even a short period of the day or night.’161 The citizens matched these arrangements by organizing the defenders into three similar watches, and, by carefully deploying their men, were able to repulse all the assaults.162 According to a Norman thirteenth-century vernacular prose history, ‘Even the ladies of the town carried stones and boiled water and pitch to throw down upon their enemies.’163 The siege wore on, but on 10 August King Louis granted the citizens a day’s respite in honour of St Laurence, his patron saint. This they readily used to demonstrate their high morale: ‘Youths and maidens, old and young sang lustily with tuneful voices within the city, both rejoicing in the day and also to provoke the enemy: and a force of knights even engaged in jousting on the river bank in sight of the enemy’.164 This galling spectacle caused Count Philip, or so ran the report which William of Newburgh had heard, to approach Louis and urge a surprise assault while the unsuspecting citizens were distracted by their merrymaking. It was a pragmatic but dishonourable ruse, and Louis at first indignantly refused to blemish his reputation by so treacherous an act. But the weight of his council was behind the count’s plan: too much was at stake to forgo this chance because of honourable scruples.165 Louis was finally persuaded, and orders were given for the army to quietly prepare their ladders for the assault.166 Whether or not the Young King approved of this course of action is unknown, but like his allies, he was acutely aware that Henry II would soon come to the city’s relief, and that it was imperative to strike before he did so.